41. Little Things

Zane was sitting against the cabin wall, thinking about his new Major Law, when Avery woke.

He heard her groan, and he was on his feet in an instant. She rubbed her eyes, blinking, squinting against the light.

"What happened?" she croaked. "I feel like shit."

"You're awake." Relief flooded him.

"Yeah, what about it? Oh! That asshat got me, didn't he?"

She patted her chest. The wound had long closed. "Huh. I'm fine now. Neat. Wait... were you waiting for me at my bedside?"

She grinned. "Aww, that's so sweet."

Standing on the other side of the sickbed, Reina made a weird gagging sound.

"You look worried sick," Avery said to him.

He was astounded. How was she so calm?

"You almost died."

"It happens," she said, waving dismissively. "This is like… the third time?"

"This is serious."

She blinked, then scratched her head sheepishly. "Yeah, well… I'm alive, aren't I? I feel alright. I'm just happy I'm still kicking. Things worked out, right?"

They did. He supposed it wasn't as harrowing for her. She was unconscious for most of it.

"Hi!" said Avery. She'd just noticed Reina. She blinked big green curious eyes at her. "Who are you? Are you okay? You look kind of constipated."

Reina's face twitched. "… Reina. It's a pleasure." She extended her hand, and Avery shook it. "Reina! Zane's told me all about you."

"Has he? Strange. He hasn't told me anything about you," said Reina, almost coldly. He frowned. She was being weird again.

"That's because we just met—wait." Avery looked at him, then at Reina, and then at him again. "Ohhhhhhh. I see what's going on here."

"What?" said Reina. "What?" said Zane at the same time.

"He's cute, don't get me wrong. But don't worry, he's not my type," said Avery, patting Reina's hand. "He's too big for me. You go climb that tree, sister."

Zane almost fell over. What?!

At the same time—"What?!" said Reina, reddening. "I—I don't understand what you're saying."

"Wait," said Avery. She looked at him, then at Reina. "Oh. Ohhhhh. He doesn't know! … Well, he didn't know… uh… oops? Sorry."

She patted Reina's hand again and hopped out of bed, yawning. "I'm hungry. Anyone got a bagel?"

Zane still hadn't recovered from that tree line. He looked at Reina, baffled. For her part, Reina wouldn't meet his eyes. She looked like she was ready to dissolve into a puddle.

… Was she… surely not… right?

"Anyway," said Zane, suddenly uncomfortable. He scrambled for something else to talk about. "It's good you're well. Reina?"

Reina flinched.

"Any news since I've been gone?"

It took Reina a moment to collect herself. She took a deep breath. Her face was still bright red. "Uh," she said, which was a word she usually never said. "Right. Yes. A lot. Just what did you do at Mount Saint Helens? I've been hearing some… things. Ludicrous things."

"They're probably true," said Avery.

"Yes, well. In the past few hours half the Factions in the state have contacted us, asking to sub-Faction!"

***

There were the River Drifters, the Silent Pines, the Yakima Echoes, the Neon Blade, the Thorn Binders, the Spokane Miners Faction, and a dozen more smaller Factions littered around East and South Washington. A fair number were displaced refugee Factions needing a new home after the Legion drove them out.

But most of them weren't. Most of them sent messages like this:

𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯,

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘯! 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵?

𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘹 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯. 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘦.

𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴.

"The Knights of Cascadia were forced out yesterday too," Reina said. "Tom sent a message—the Legion's swarming the Cascades. I told him they could come here. We've got enough empty space."

"Can we absorb everyone who wants to come?" said Zane. Though he was really asking, Can you handle it?

Reina nodded firmly.

"Good," he said. He sighed. There was no going back—either the Legion went down or the Luminous Faction did. They'd need all the help they could get.

***

There was a slight awkwardness between him and Reina now. They both went on as though Avery hadn't said anything, like if they didn't address it it might go away on its own. Though Reina's face had been pink for two hours straight. Avery herself went off doing… he wasn't sure. She'd just made a mess and vanished.

Reina's log cabin lay near the center of town. There, they strategized.

First he told her about the essence geysers in Mount Saint Helens. They needed to get on that as soon as possible. Get most of their warriors up to the Level 30s, maybe the 40s. He wasn't sure how fast the Legion would come for them. If they were bringing their whole army… he figured they had at most two weeks, likely less. With how much essence those geysers gave, even a night would do wonders.

If D-rank dungeons had treasures this good, what about C-rank? What about dungeons that spawned in dense cities, where hundreds of fighters could go in at once, and reap its Treasure Area rewards?

No wonder so many Factions got so strong so fast. The Beacon map showed the Legion had conquered their own C-ranked dungeon in Seattle. They were far ahead. And the Luminous Faction had very little time to play catch-up…

***

Reina did her best, though. By evening, everyone who'd been building, or patrolling, or tending to Treasure Areas had been diverted into strict combat roles, divvied into divisions of Rangers, healers, scouts, infantry, heavy infantry, and so on. When he caught them at dinnertime, they were drilling in the Highlands plains.

Word about him had gotten out too. If they were in awe of him before, it was getting silly now. Nobody came up to him anymore. He felt like a zoo animal, only to be observed at a safe distance. Everyone kept averting their eyes when they looked at him, as if they were staring at the sun. Men dipped their heads like a knee-jerk reaction. Women got flustered, looked away.

He kind of liked it. Nobody bothered him as he went about camp. It was nice.

***

There were so many little things he had to do before the fighting began.

First thing, he used his new mid-grade essence stones to upgrade the Beacon to D-rank.

That unlocked a wealth of benefits. For one, specialized training zones that you could site anywhere you liked. Pay for them, and the System would spawn them then and there.

𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠: 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕞𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝. 𝔼𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕞 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖, 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣, 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜, 𝕠𝕣 𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕟, 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠: ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕔 𝕒 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕒 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕪. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠: 𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕒 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕓𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝-𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕓𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

ℝ𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠: ℝ𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕤, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕩 𝕠𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤. ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕠𝕦𝕣, 𝕖𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕦𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ℝ𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕠𝕛𝕠𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕓𝕠𝕝𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

You could even purchase—

ℂ𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥: 𝕄𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔 𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖.

Though they were expensive as hell.

The Beacon Store was also upgraded. It now offered dishes that promised permanent but small boosts to specific stats. Spirit Rockfish for Vitality, Lion's Heart for Strength, and so on. There were also minor treasures now, like cloaks that gave weak camouflage or compasses that pointed to the nearest Treasure Area. Few were worth the price.

He handed over his Bag of Holding, with all its mid-grade essence stones, to Reina. He trusted her to spend them wisely.

***

That evening, the most important benefit of the D-rank Beacon popped up: the larger messaging range.

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯,

𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴.

𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩. 𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯.

𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦.

𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬.

Just an hour later, he got a similar message from a lady who led a Faction called the Kootenai Rangers. They'd been defending Kootenai National Forest, using guerrilla tactics to ward off swarms of Iron Legion soldiers. They promised similar support—that they'd press the Legion to the east.

Neither Faction seemed to want to commit to sending troops over to wage full-on war.

In that, the Luminous Faction was on its own.

***

Things moved shockingly fast. The next morning, Zane was preparing to run another of his errands. He had his Law Fruit in his pocket. He meant to go check out that Sharpness Cavern of Insight to see if he could glean anything useful for his Axe.

Before he set off, the first of the refugee Factions arrived.